Jason "J" Maxwell
Jason "J" Maxwell was a contestant on Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 10th place. Personality J was a very calm and nice chef, and got along with all of his teammates, even when they had a bad service. He was also shown to be very emotional, especially when he knew that he was having a terrible service. Of note, in the kitchen, he started out as one of the strongest, but went a quick downward spiral out of nowhere, and continued to make basic mistakes, which lead to him being eliminated mid-service. Season 5 Episode 1 During the Signature Dish Challenge, J was the tenth person to have his dish judged by Ramsay. It is unknown what he made, but Ramsay graded it an "F". When the teams were lined up, the men revealed the blue team's new name, the "Blues Brothers". During dinner service, J was on the meat station with Seth. He went unnoticed during service, but his first order of lamb was stalled due to Wil's problems on the garnish station. His team lost the dinner service because of Giovanni's poor performance as a waiter. J was nominated for elimination, and corrected Seth who mixed up the nominees, by saying that Seth was the first nominee, Wil the second, and not the other way around. Episode 2 Back to the dorms, J expressed disappointment that Seth was passed over Wil as he felt Seth lacked both the skills and desire for the competition. During the Scallop Cleaning Challenge, J gave the worst individual performance from the blue team with only one acceptable scallop out of his six. Despite that, he somehow clinched the victory 36-35 for his team, and they were rewarded with a helicopter tour of Catalina Island along with a submarine ride. During the reward, he got concerned over Seth's knowledge on Ramsay's personal life, and compared him to a stalker. During dinner service, J was on the dessert station. He was not shown much during service. His team won the service, and at elimination, J gave an emotional standing ovation during Ji's departure, along with everybody else in the room. Episode 3 During the Meat & Cow Challenge, J was the first person of his team to attempt the second part of the challenge. He ended up with three incorrect answers, but his team won the challenge, and was rewarded with a private jet trip to Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez, California, where they had a wine tasting and a steak dinner with Ramsay. During the Steakhouse double dinner service, J was on the garnish station with Seth for the first seating. He was not seen much during that seating, except showing annoyance when Seth did not know how to butcher a filet tenderloin, but on the second seating, where he was a waiter, he was seen sending back a shrimp Caeser salad that had raw shrimp in it. The blue team lost the dinner service. J was not nominated for elimination, and after he announced the nominees, Seth tried to argue against it, but he sternly reminded Seth that Ramsay asked him for calling the nominees. Episode 4 During the Football Team & Cheerleaders Breakfast Service Challenge, J was on the hash brown station with Robert. In the middle of service, he and Robert were chewed out by Ramsay when he poorly served the hash browns on the plate. His team lost the challenge, and was forced to clean up the dining room, both kitchens, and prep them ahead of that night’s service. During dinner service, J was on the appetizer station with Giovanni. At one point, he served a Caeser salad that had a butt of lettuce, and when it was sent back to the kitchen, he took the blame for it. That mistake left Ramsay asking him if he was stupid. Both teams lost the dinner service. Before Ramsay asked for the nominees, he reminded the salad butt incident, referring to J, who was called a butthead by him. J was not nominated for elimination, leading Ramsay to question that decision. After elimination, he and his team welcomed Lacey as a new teammate, not being very happy about it. Episode 5 During the Asian Fusion Challenge, J was paired with Giovanni for the meat dish. They served a beef pizzaiola but struggled to say the name. It was deemed a good concept, but had undercooked rice, and lost the round. The blue team lost the challenge 1-2, and was forced to make fortune cookies and fold origami for the next night's service. During dinner service, J was on the meat station. When he cut into his first Wellingtons, he told Ramsay he needed more time as they were still raw, with Sous Chef Scott revealing that his fan was on low instead of high, leading Ramsay to chew him out for his mistake. His order of chicken came out raw as well, with Ramsay reminding him that no entrées have left the blue kitchen in 14 minutes, and telling him to get a grip. He also realized that he forgot an order of lamb. Both teams lost the dinner service, and for the blue team, Giovanni was named "Best of the Worst". J was Giovanni's nominee for elimination, and joined Andrea from the red team. He survived elimination. Episode 6 Back in the dorms, J took a look at a picture of his son and broke down into tears, as Giovanni checked up on him to give him reassurance. Then, he promised his son that he would never have another terrible service like the previous one. J was not seen much during the Bar Mitzvah Planning Challenge, but his team won 2-1 and was rewarded with a spa day at the Skin Haven spa. During the Bar Mitzvah dinner service, J was on the appetizer station. At one point he accidentally served a salad that had dressing despite the order not needing it, which caused Ramsay to order him to snap out of his funk. The blue team eventually won the service. Episode 7 Before the Tapas Leftovers Challenge, J and the blue team said goodbye to Giovanni, who has just been transferred to the red team. During the challenge, he made a lobster with fennel and leek broth, which was deemed too simple. He lost the round to Andrea, and the blue team eventually lost the challenge 2-3. They had to prep both kitchens for that night's service, and polish the tapa plates. During the punishment, he called out Lacey over her decision to quit, telling her that if she wanted to go, she could do it. Before dinner service, J overcooked the rice for the risotto in both kitchens, resulting in a halt during dinner service, and Ramsay had to take the risotto off the menu. During dinner service, he was on the fish station. After the risotto incident, he served raw salmon and was told to refire it. He had trouble communicating with his team, despite his teammates trying to help him bounce back. When he served a burnt salmon without the sauce, Ramsay took him in the pantry room for a much needed wake up call. After that, he sent overcooked scallops to the pass, which were the final straw for Ramsay, who has had enough and eliminated him on-the-spot. During his exit interview, he gave an optimistic speech, saying it was time for him to move on and get his own restaurant. J received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence at the end of the episode. Ramsay's comment: "I kept Ben and Lacey because J put the kitchen in such a hole that they never stood a chance. They're very lucky that I sent J packing." Nomination history Trivia *He is the second contestant to be eliminated during dinner service, following Josh (Season 3), and the first to be so during the team phase of the competition. *He is the first mid-service ejected contestant who received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence at the end of the episode where he was eliminated. *After his appearance on the show, he became an Executive Chef at Glen Eddy, in Niskayuna, New York. He also used his newly acquired fame to promote Autism awareness, being involved with some fundraisers, because he discovered his son was autistic prior to entering the show. Quotes *"Oh Lord, it's the dreaded... garbage... bags!" *(About Seth) "He knows more about Chef Ramsay than Chef Ramsay. That's weird." *"You've never cleaned a tenderloin! Where have you worked? In your parents' house?" *"Charlie, wake the fuck up, man." *"J feels like a jackass because of that freaking butt of lettuce." *"I fucked up everything. Every goddamn thing." *(To Lacey) "Just shut the fuck up, get out of the kitchen, and let me do my job." *(After being eliminated) "I guess I don't belong here, so I'll be going home. I'm here for a reason and it's my boy and my wife. So, of course, I'm disappointed. My dream in Hell's Kitchen was to win. So now it's time to move on and get my own restaurants going. You know I don't need Chef Ramsay's opinion anymore, I've got it. (Tomorrow's another day, let's do this.) It's time for J Maxwell to do his own thing." External Links * Category:Chef Category:Season 5 Category:New Yorkers Category:Automatically Eliminated Category:10th Place